11.18.2008

mariners hire don wakamatsu as manager

The Seattle Mariners have reportedly hired Don Wakamatsu, former bench coach for Oakland, as their new manager: Source: M's to name A's bench coach Wakamatsu as manager. If I'm not mistaken, this actually makes Wakamatsu the very first Asian American manager in professional baseball.

A former major league catcher, Wakamatsu spent four season managing in the minors, never higher than Double-A. Now he's managing a major league team, beating out a large field of candidates that included Boston Red Sox coaches Brad Mills and DeMarlo Hale, Arizona Diamondbacks coach Chip Hale, and Triple-A Portland manager Randy Ready.

He's got his work cut out for him. Seattle lost 101 games this season, its most since 1983, and became the first team to lose 100 with a $100 million payroll. The Mariners have never reached the World Series, and their most recent playoff appearance came in 2001. Sounds like the team is determined to completely remake this flopping franchise. There's a long road ahead.